Day: October 23, 2022

Women In Wellness: Olivia F Scott of Freedom At The Mat On The Five Lifestyle Tweaks That Will Help Support People’s Journey Towards Better Wellbeing

An Interview With Candice Georgiadis

Pause & evaluate when your life feels off. Often daily life gets us caught up as if on a hamster wheel. Time flies. Yet, our souls are not fulfilled by the lives we lead. So, I invite everyone to pause at least once a year to truly explore if the life you are leading is one which brings you joy and fulfills you. If it does not, use the pause to make specific steps towards creating the life you want and which you deserve.

As a part of my series about women in wellness, I had the pleasure of interviewing Olivia F. Scott.

Olivia F. Scott, M.A. & RYT-200, is Founder & Creator of Freedom At The Mat (FATM). Formally established in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic, FATM is a Benefit corporation intentional in offering free short-form meditations, yoga flows and expert interviews on the brand’s YouTube channel, complimented by art yoga mats, guided journals and aromatherapy candles on FreedomAtTheMat.com. FATM donates fifteen percept of its profits to select nonprofits serving the health & wellness of underserved women & girls. Scott, also a Professor & Marketing Practioner, has developed & led the ESSENCE Festival’s Wellness House and Health Hub platforms since 2019, and is committed to devoting her combined marketing expertise, passion and academic research efforts to making wellness accessible for all.

Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! Our readers would love to “get to know you” better. Can you share your “backstory” with us?

I was born in Memphis, TN. Educated in Journalism at University of Missouri-Columbia, and trained in marketing and advertising in Chicago and NYC from 1995–2020 at advertising agency, brand & media companies. After a storied 20+ year marketing career as a practitioner, I experienced burn out, while also going through my divorce around 2014. My standard Saturday 10 a.m. spinning classes were not available to me at my new gym, so I reluctantly walked into a vinyasa yoga class because it was the only class offered during that time slot. I’d tried hatha and bikram yoga classes before to no great interest. But upon trying this vinyasa class led by my teacher Meriany, I began to love yoga as a wellness modality suitable for me. As I continued practicing with Meriany, I learned that yoga was more than just fitness, that if you truly connected to the present moment, it could also be a mental wellness and spiritually grounding practice as well. I earned my 200-Hour Teaching Certification in Vinyasa Yoga in 2018 at Sonic Yoga, and began teaching free classes through the Dream Center Harlem, and at First Corinthian Baptist Church, both in NYC. After teaching for about two years, I relocated for a lifestyle change to New Orleans in January 2020. The pandemic hit six weeks later, and now I’m finally emerging a bit to see what NOLA has in store for me as a business owner, Professor and wellness educator.

Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you started your career? What were the main lessons or takeaways from that story?

VIBE Magazine folded over night in 2009. I was Associate Publisher, Head of Marketing, with a 10+ person team. On a Monday evening around 6 PM at a pub a few blocks from our Wall Street office, our CEO informed the executive team of which I was a part that we were closing our doors at 1 PM the next day, potentially without severance. I loved this job, this company, and my staff. But just like that, it was all over. Kinda like Biggie said, “It was all a dream.”

The biggest lessons I learned were that a) it is imperative for all career women living away from home to have an emergency fund of a minimum of six months of all mandatory living expenses, and b) to never overidentify with professional titles, because they are temporary and can evaporate in mere moments. After the CEO shared that it was game over, that night on my couch I took a hard look at my expenses, and also at myself. Was I “doing” or “being?” Because life requires money, many of us focus on doing, and associate our value with our professions and incomes. But if this is taken away from you, you must have a core understanding of your “being,” not your “doing.”

It has been said that our mistakes can be our greatest teachers. Can you share a story about a mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

I started the Freedom At The Mat YouTube channel during the pandemic. What a joy! Well, my first filming session was socially distanced and with a production company who a) insisted on recording my yoga flow sequence voiceover immediately after the sequence taping which I knew would result in an exorbitant amount of editing (which it did), and b) lost some of my footage.

The aforementioned PLUS limited funding set me on a journey of self-production. There was only one problem. I had no experience filming content, AND was tech challenged. So, my rookie mistake was evident in my first self-filming session. To prep for this amazing big day of self-production in my second bedroom (oh the joys of entrepreneurship, and being in a pandemic), I composed eight sequences, and selected eight wardrobe selections. I was hydrated, feeling strong and ready to go. But, I did not realize that to complete one yoga sequence, I would have to potentially re-do the postures 2–3 times. So, my estimate of a three-hour shoot was not realized. Rather, my first self-production took 10 hours. Afterwards, my body was sore and in post-production, I realized some of my re-dos had the wrong outfits on intros and outros, and the sound was crappy.

Luckily, I’d viewed a popular video game YouTuber’s “How To Start A YouTube Channel,” and was relieved when I saw his progression from his first videos to current-day ones. This encouraged me to believe that everyone has to start somewhere and that those mistakes were ones from which I could learn. Today, I film one-to-two yoga sessions at a time usually, and use multiple pieces from that session over a couple of week’s span.

Let’s jump to our main focus. When it comes to health and wellness, how is the work you are doing helping to make a bigger impact in the world?

We are a wellness social venture intentional about making wellness accessible to all. A portion (15% of profits) from sales of our in-person classes and products goes directly to select nonprofits serving the health & wellness of underserved women & girls. So, the more we earn, the more we are able to undergird the good work done by local community 501c3s, including The Grace House of Memphis, A21, Dream Center Harlem, Taller Salud and New Orleans Family Justice Center. We think of ourselves as vessels. Women already on the wellness track purchase our products and in so doing, support the vitality of those underserved in health & wellness through 501c3 contributions.

Can you share your top five “lifestyle tweaks” that you believe will help support people’s journey towards better wellbeing? Please give an example or story for each.

1. Honor your uniqueness. Human nature drives us to look to others for indications on what to do and how to be. The popularity and influence of social media has intensified this tendency to justify and substantiate your existence by looking to others. So, we invite everyone to honor their personal beauty, spirit and beings. My lived experience uniquely equips me to authentically speak about physical and mental health, so this is what I from the heart.
2. Take the time to know yourself. My move from New York City was an emotional one. I lived there for 20 years. Many close to me questioned why I was moving, but I knew myself enough to know that my spirit was off. I could no longer create and grow in this city which took so much to navigate through daily.
3. Stand in your truth. Every individual is entitled to their own life experience, and with that comes personal truths. There was an occasion in which I experienced an offense by a dear friend. I examined the actions of my friend from multiple angles to justify it, yet my spirit never settled on being ok with it. I found the courage to share my feelings with my friend. Afterwards, there were repercussions reflected in the shift within our relationship. While the relationship has not recovered, I feel more self confident having spoken my truth and feeling the freedom & power in standing in and owning my truth, even if it hurts. You grow when you stand in and speak your truth.
4. Join a community, listen to a podcast or read a book. Expand your mind by learning new things and connecting with new people. This helps you feel less alone, and less stuck. While these feelings are natural at different points in our lives, when you expand your experience and knowledge base, there is comfort in knowing that countless others (no matter where they are from or what they look like) are experiencing life just like you, and you feel more seen, heard and inspired to continued your respective journey.
5. Pause & evaluate when your life feels off. Often daily life gets us caught up as if on a hamster wheel. Time flies. Yet, our souls are not fulfilled by the lives we lead. So, I invite everyone to pause at least once a year to truly explore if the life you are leading is one which brings you joy and fulfills you. If it does not, use the pause to make specific steps towards creating the life you want and which you deserve.

If you could start a movement that would bring the most amount of wellness to the most amount of people, what would that be?

I would like to see a movement in which it is mandatory for every human being on earth to begin and end their respective days by pausing for mandatory, intentional breathing and self-acknowledgement every day. Essentially, when each person wakes up they have to pause for a minimum of two uninterrupted minutes of no TV or device use (light music is ok), and end their day the same way. I would like to see this become a federal mandate for each citizen akin to financial taxes, like a “life tax.” I think this would help us all live less anxious, and more enlightened lives.

The pandemic was a global pause in which every global citizen was forced to be more mindful. And from speaking with many people, I think people enjoyed the international slowdown. I believe wholeheartedly that the the way to lead our respective lives is within us, but we don’t tune inwards enough in favor of external feedback. Listening to your soul can be powerful and transformative.

What are your “5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Started” and why?

1. It is ok to get going on your entrepreneurial path even when you have NO idea what you’re doing, or where you’re going. Once you are in motion, all you need will be added to you. Often we procrastinate starting because we don’t know what to do, where to start, or because we don’t want to appear as if we don’t know what we’re doing. But the truth is you may not, but you will, and that you only learn by doing, so the only way to find out the how is “to do.”
2. Conduct research beyond your friends & family about your business proposition.The world is much larger than those in your immediate circle, so you and your business can benefit from expanded world views. Also, your loved ones love and know you in a certain light, however the opportunities for you to contribute to the world may extend far beyond or differently from their views.
3. Appealing to everyone from the onset is not realistic or healthy due to budget and bandwidth limitations. If I had been told this, to start, I would have developed a minimal viable product (yoga mats) or service offering (meditations) for a specific audience as a test, and executed further from there.
4. It will all be done, just not all at once. A dear friend told me recently that she was happy to see me pacing my workload and spreading out my to-do dates over more time. I realized then that for whatever reason (likely the pressures of the world), I had been setting extremely unhealthy and unrealistic deadlines on my work productivity which was creating my time scarcity and anxiety. I now aim to complete things and refill my cup before moving on to the next initiative or task.
5. Ask for references, complete solid reference checks and examine reviews for each vendor you work with. Once you’re in business for yourself, the number of people pitching you on their services is overwhelming. At some point due to your need for expanded bandwidth and/or expertise, you ultimately end up caving and saying yes to a vendor. This in and of itself is understandable, but to protect your business and preserve your cash, we highly recommend that you take your time when choosing vendors and if possible try to hire people when you don’t desperately need them, this way you can be more level headed when you examine their agreements and evaluate if they are best suited to continue your business.

Sustainability, veganism, mental health, and environmental changes are big topics at the moment. Which one of these causes is dearest to you, and why?

Mental health is the topic of most interest to me at this time. Much emphasis for years has been placed on physical health, but by the increased school shootings, crime and suicide rates, it is obvious that mental health is of grave concern. Personally, I believe the life curation and altered image projections which occurs on some social media channels creates the idea for many that the lives they are leading are subpar (which is why the authenticity of the creators on TikTok is resonating so loudly as a counterculture). Yet, I think there is still more attention to be paid to protect the sanctity of people’s minds to creative a more sane world.

What is the best way for our readers to further follow your work online?

Visit YouTube.com/FreedomAtTheMat to hear our conversations with wellness experts, and experience our meditations, affirmations & yoga flows. We also post content about leading present lives on Facebook and Instagram using the Freedom At The Mat handle..

Thank you for these fantastic insights! We wish you continued success and good health.

---

Women In Wellness: Olivia F Scott of Freedom At The Mat On The Five Lifestyle Tweaks That Will Help… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Women In Wellness: Author Parijat Deshpande On The Five Lifestyle Tweaks That Will Help Support People’s Journey Towards Better Wellbeing

An Interview With Candice Georgiadis

Don’t let anyone discourage or sway you from your vision. We have the visions that we have for a reason and we have the availability to turn them into reality. Not everyone can see our visions, but that’s okay.

As part of our series about the women in wellness, I had the pleasure of interviewing Parijat Deshpande.

Parijat Deshpande is an author, speaker and the CEO of a global, boutique company dedicated to reducing pregnancy complications and ending preterm birth. On a mission to end the high-risk pregnancy crisis, she has served and supported hundreds of women through her programs, one-on-one work and bestselling book, Pregnancy Brain: A Mind-Body Approach to Stress Management During a High-Risk Pregnancy.

Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! Our readers would love to “get to know you” better. Can you share your “backstory” with us?

I always knew I wanted to work in women’s health. As early as 8 years old, I have memories of wanting to grow up and be an OBGYN. I knew what that was because my friend’s dad is an OBGYN, and every single time I had an opportunity to learn about his work and listen to his stories, I did. In junior high and high school when we had various career or science reports, anytime I had an opportunity to interview someone, I would choose him because I was so fascinated with the work and the world of pregnancy health.

When I got to college and was introduced to chemistry, I soon realized chemistry and I didn’t get along. Naturally, my career path changed directions and I pursued my undergraduate degree in psychology. This then led me to my undergraduate thesis, where I focused on research in developmental psychology. Ultimately, my career switched again, and I completed my graduate degree in clinical psychology, Yet, I still felt like there was something missing. It wasn’t until I had a real-life experience when I became the patient, that my eyes opened to a different way of working in women’s health that didn’t require me to be an OBGYN. After my experience with infertility, loss, and a very high-risk pregnancy, I realized I could be very closely involved on the pregnancy journey of people and work closely with OBGYNs in a capacity that actually suits my skillset even better!

Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you started your career? What were the main lessons or takeaways from that story?

One of the first private clients I worked with came to me in her second pregnancy after having survived a previous high-risk pregnancy where she developed particular pregnancy complications and delivered preterm. She was hoping it wouldn’t happen again, but the same pregnancy complications resurfaced, except this time, even earlier in the current pregnancy. Her medical team tried to prepare her to deliver earlier in her pregnancy and encouraged her to be ready to have her baby in the NICU, too. That’s when she contacted me. She felt very strongly against being a NICU parent again and wanted help to figure out how to help herself manage the complications and stay pregnant.

I remember it all so clearly. Her doctors had given her a specific gestational age by which they were certain she was going to deliver. With the combination of continued prenatal medical care as well as our work together, she flew past that gestational age. I even remember her telling me she went to one of her medical appointments and her doctor was in complete shock she was still pregnant. It’s hard to forget the look on her face when she told me how fascinated her doctor was by the neurobiological work she and I were doing together to effectively help her stop her preterm contractions. She also got to show her medical care team during that very appointment how she could actually modulate those contractions. It was amazing to see her doctors truly start understanding how important trauma-informed, neurobiological support is in conjunction with prenatal medical care. She flew past her due date and ended up delivering her baby a few days after.

I think the biggest lesson for me from that experience was to remember the incredible power of this work and the incredible power of the human body. That has helped me whenever I’m doing something out of my comfort zone to build my business: to always think of her and clients like her who remind me that the work, works. It’s really powerful and helpful not to just my client but for the next generation of people we are trying to raise, too.

It has been said that our mistakes can be our greatest teachers. Can you share a story about a mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

When I first started my work, I was really shy and nervous to talk about what I do. I didn’t want to offend people, I didn’t want to ostracize people or make them feel like they were doing something wrong in their pregnancy — I just didn’t want to talk about it. My hopes were that people would figure out that they needed my services on their own and then come reaching out. I think this was a mistake, a rookie mistake maybe, because it undercut the value and the power of the work and it prevented people who needed my services from knowing that they existed. The more often I heard, “I wish I had known about you or your services when I was going through this”, the more I am reminded about the importance of sharing why I changed my career to be a trauma-informed, high-risk pregnancy specialist, how I work with clients, client success stories, and inviting people to work together. The more people can find me when they need this support, and we can help them have a healthy high-risk pregnancy, the more we are setting up the next generation for improved health!

Let’s jump to our main focus. When it comes to health and wellness, how is the work you are doing helping to make a bigger impact in the world?

Two words–generational health. I help people have healthy pregnancies by teaching them neurobiological trauma-informed approaches to improving their nervous system, endocrine system, and their immune system. This all works together to help them have healthy pregnancies, reduce their risk of pregnancy complications, help them stay pregnant as long as possible, and give their baby a strong start to life. That is the ultimate, core foundational concept of generational health.

My clients not only benefit from our work through improved preconception and pregnancy health, but they are also setting themselves up for a healthy parenting experience, which sets the baby up to benefit long-term, too. There is tremendous research that shows how fetal development is deeply impacted by the environment they are growing in and one of the ways they are impacted is through the pregnant person’s physiological stress response. Stress physiology affects the functionality of the placenta, umbilical blood flow, fetal neurological development, and the overall health of the pregnancy. This is why when we address stress physiology from a somatic, neurobiological perspective (which is not the same as calming down) we can deeply support the neuro-endo-immune triad in the pregnant person, which can positively impact placental function and fetal growth and development, and reducing the risk of complications. This is how we can set the baby up for a healthy future long-term including supporting gross and fine motor development, cognitive development, intellectual, and emotional development. The impact of the work I do with my clients doesn’t just stop with them. It affects their baby’s long-term health and the way they parent, which also affects their child’s development. The work we do is deeply focused on passing on generational health.

Can you share your top five “lifestyle tweaks” that you believe will help support people’s journey towards better wellbeing? Please give an example or story for each.

I find there are no tweaks, tips or hacks that actually help us get to deeper well-being. I want people to understand every time they’re looking for tweaks, tips, or hacks, what they’re looking for is another quick-fix solution that’s not going to get them to well-being — we have to do the deeper work. However, I do believe there are things that people can start doing now that can help them on the path to better well-being. So here are my five suggestions on where to begin:

1. When we’re feeling stressed. This is a sign that something about your situation, environment, tasks at hand, or relationship, is being encoded in your body as threatening. Instead of trying to breathe your way out of it, try to figure out what specifically about the situation, the task, the job, or the relationship is actually being experienced as threatening by your body. Once you’ve identified that, you’ll be able to create a solution and/or have an idea as to how to experience the situation, relationship, or job as safe.
   One of my clients would experience her blood pressure rising every time she went to the doctor. But her blood pressure was completely fine everywhere else–she would check it at home, the pharmacy, at work, etc. and it was completely fine. But every time she was in the doctor’s office, it would skyrocket and they would tell her she had hypertension and that she needed to begin medication. She would say no and would share with her medical team how the readings were fine at home. When we worked together, we had to identify what exactly was specifically threatening for her in that environment. There are a lot of people who have medical anxiety especially if they’ve experienced medical trauma and medical gaslighting. For her, it was actually the smell of the exam room that was triggering her somatic memories of her previous loss. Once we figured that out, we were able to work out how to change the smell of the exam room while supporting her body to come out of that triggered state, we were able to help her bring her blood pressure down at her doctor’s appointments.
2. When we have trouble sleeping. If you’re having trouble sleeping, and you’ve done everything in your power to improve your sleep hygiene, the next thing you want to do is to see what happened the day before. At what point in the day prior, did you experience a threatening moment–which is what we often call feeling stressed–that you couldn’t resolve completely physiologically? While you might feel calm emotionally, your body is still holding onto the impact of that threat response being activated. If you can figure out those patterns, you’ll have a better chance of being able to resolve that stress cycle before you go to sleep.
   I had a client who had terrible insomnia since the preterm delivery of her previous child. Her insomnia started as soon as she delivered and the baby was in the NICU. It lasted for years and nothing she tried helped alleviate it effectively. She was doing everything perfectly–when she started working with me we looked through the usual sleep hygiene checklist and all of the boxes were checked. Then, we looked back at the day before to see what was happening that kept her from being able to resolve and complete that stress cycle. Her reality was such that she had to be really vigilant about her preemie’s health and the health concerns they were dealing with since their NICU discharge. But she didn’t have any buffer between offering some of the treatments, doing her child’s bedtime routine and her getting ready to go to sleep. It was go, go, go for her all day long, and then she would crash from exhaustion only to wake up multiple times through the night. Her body was holding onto all of the activation required to be vigilant as a caretaker of her medically complex child, but she wasn’t actually able to complete that stress cycle to release that activation to go to sleep. That is what we worked on, and even then when her sleep hygiene wasn’t perfect, she was able to sleep and her insomnia actually disappeared.
3. Movement over exercise. I always tell my clients to prioritize movement over “exercise”. Sometimes the term exercise can mean something triggering and feel daunting to do. Some may associate it with sticking to a particular routine or a specific kind of exercise type. Some may associate it with feeling a certain way in their body that they don’t like or doesn’t feel good to them. These associations will prevent us from sticking to an exercise routine, even if we know we need to. This is why I recommend starting with movement of any kind. It does not matter what you do, it’s about can you get yourself to move, and that often helps to get over that hump to figure out what kind of exercise or movement helps you. I often tell my clients, especially those who have a history of a lot of trauma around exercise, not to use the word exercise and call it movement (or something else creative!) instead.
   I had a client who had a history of trauma around exercise. This client identified as a woman and I think for women, there’s a lot of shame or trauma around diet culture, weight, and exercising and this was the environment she grew up in. As an adult, when she gained weight, it was a scary experience in her home. When she was trying to conceive, she knew she wanted to lose weight, but the idea of exercising was so triggering that she wouldn’t do it, and then beat herself up for being “lazy” As we started working together, she told me, “Clearly I know I need to exercise, but I’m not doing it and I don’t know how to get myself to work out more.” We started our work together by completely stopping using the word exercise. We just focused on getting her moving. It didn’t matter what that movement looked like; it could’ve been cartwheels, walking or pacing in her office, dancing in the kitchen with her partner as dinner was in the oven, as long as she could get herself to move a certain number of times per day. If the goal was weight loss, it was too big of a leap from where she was. What we needed her to do was get used to the idea that movement could feel good and didn’t have to feel triggering in any way. Once we were able to do that, we were able to find some kind of movement practice that not only felt pleasurable to her but also helped her achieve her health goal of losing weight in order to be ready for the next pregnancy.
4. Change one habit at a time. Whenever we’re trying to make lifestyle changes, we often think we need to overhaul our entire life. What we really need is to change one habit at a time. The way you pick the first habit, as I recommend to my clients, is to pick the one that is going to give you the best result the fastest. What is going to make you feel better as quickly as possible–start with that first. Sometimes that’s changing your diet, your sleep routine, or something as simple as waking up in the morning and standing in the sun for 10–15 minutes to stop the melatonin production and feel more awake. It could even be drinking half a cup more water per day. These things seem really small but they have an enormous impact on setting up new habits. More important than the actual habit changes, is the experience that you can actually change your habit and benefit from the results of it on the other side.
   One of my clients was wanting to make a tremendous number of changes in her health before she was ready to try to conceive again. She had a lot of health problems that popped up, especially after her stillbirth from before, and she also had chronic health issues prior to that previous pregnancy and wanted to address all of them. She had tried multiple doctors, diet regimens, supplements, and medications, but nothing was getting better or as quickly as she had hoped. Then one of her physicians, a referral partner of mine, suggested that we work together because they thought that stress physiology was underlying some of the “lack of progress” as my client called it As we began our work together, she had a long list of things she wanted to work on and I asked her how it felt to look at this list. She told me it felt very overwhelming. I said to her, “If it’s overwhelming, you’re not going to do it. We don’t do things that overwhelm us.” We then worked through her list by removing the ones that felt the hardest and slowly pared the list down to the top three that she felt were easiest to start with. I asked her which one felt the absolute easiest to do. She ended up choosing drinking water. So we worked out a plan and the only goal for her at first was to drink more water. This can be hard when we have big goals and we know we can ultimately achieve those goals with some time and effort. Sometimes these smaller steps feel like they’re not enough but that’s not actually the point–what she had to experience was that she could actually change a habit, change it successfully, and sustain that successful change to benefit from it sustainably and that gave her the motivation to continue on to add one more habit one at a time.
5. Compassion and understanding. To understand your body, know that nothing in your body is happening by a fluke. The pain, the discomfort, the pleasure, the days when you feel really good and the days that you feel really bad, all of that is telling you something about your body, and everything you’re experiencing makes perfect sense. Yes, even the anxiety, insomnia, heart palpitations, and weight gain, there’s a reason for all of it. With my clients, I never accept a pathologizing answer of “this is what’s wrong” or a “we don’t know” answer over trying to figure out how it makes sense that your body is doing what it’s doing. This is one of the foundational elements of trauma-informed support: looking beyond what’s wrong to incorporate the bigger picture, and the context, to figure out how your “symptoms” make perfect sense and how they are telling you exactly what your body needs.
   I had a client with multiple health complications she wasn’t getting enough support with. One she was especially concerned about was vertigo-like symptoms. No medical provider was able to figure out what was going on. They ran multiple tests, and nothing came up and everything was fine, yet she felt so dizzy all the time. Turns out, it wasn’t actually vertigo. One of the first things we talked about when we began working together was the idea that this dizziness is actually a very common experience for people who are living with traumatic stress for an extended period of time. There’s an explanation inside of our sensory system that helps highlight why this happens. It’s not a fluke; it happened for her whenever a particular stress threshold was crossed and there was so much activation in her body that this is how her sensory system responded. When I explained it like this to her, I remember her in tears because it was such a relief to her that she wasn’t broken, and there was an explanation for what she was experiencing. When we can have that kind of understanding and compassion for ourselves about why our bodies are doing what it’s doing, we no longer feel like we have to fight our bodies. We can understand and hold that understanding in a way to get curious about what the next steps should be to support our bodies to manage, reduce or even eradicate entirely, the symptoms that are concerning us.

If you could start a movement that would bring the most amount of wellness to the most amount of people, what would that be?

My movement would be for every single person who is about to try to conceive, actively trying to conceive or is currently pregnant to have access to neurobiological trauma-informed support. This would give them the information they need so they know how they can support their bodies to have healthy pregnancies. When a pregnant person is healthy and the pregnancy is healthy, we reduce the risk of complications and reduce the preterm delivery rate. We’re essentially setting up the entire next generation for better health. I genuinely could not think of a more impactful movement than helping people create a healthy next generation.

What are your “5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Started” and why?

1. Don’t let anyone discourage or sway you from your vision. We have the visions that we have for a reason and we have the availability to turn them into reality. Not everyone can see our visions, but that’s okay.
2. If you’re in a business that is challenging the status quo, it can be difficult. Surround yourself with other visionaries who believe in your vision and who are also doing similar disrupting type work. This helps tremendously to keep you going, even on the hard days.
3. The entrepreneur journey has lots of ups and downs. This is very normal. It doesn’t mean you’re doing anything wrong or that you shouldn’t be doing this work. It is just inherent to the experience and normalizing that as early as possible is helpful.
4. Whenever you feel lost, like you don’t know what you’re doing or where your life is going, go back to your younger self. What did that version of you dream for yourself? Reconnect with that dream, because that version of you had wisdom you still have access to.
5. Your health determines how many other people you can help on their health and wellness journey. An essential part of doing this work is taking really good care of yourself.

Sustainability, veganism, mental health, and environmental changes are big topics at the moment. Which one of these causes is dearest to you, and why?

The most impactful cause that is closely tied to me would have to be environmental change. Climate change not only impacts my family personally but also the work I do. For example, the increase in wildfires impacts pregnancy health and pregnancy outcomes. I am actively working, both personally and professionally, to see how I can contribute to reversing climate change.

What is the best way for our readers to further follow your work online?

Visit me at my website parijatdeshpande.com to see all the resources I have available. You can read my book, Pregnancy Brain, which is also linked on my website. If you’d like to dive a little deeper into what a trauma-informed neurobiological approach to whole health sounds like, join The Inner Circle. Lastly, you can follow me on Instagram @healthy.highriskpregnancy for inspiration and motivation.

Thank you so much for joining us. This was very inspirational!

---

Women In Wellness: Author Parijat Deshpande On The Five Lifestyle Tweaks That Will Help Support… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Women In Wellness: Katie Gallagher of Candor Health Education On The Five Lifestyle Tweaks That Will Help Support People’s Journey Towards Better Wellbeing

An Interview With Candice Georgiadis

Set goals. These may be goals to improve your work life, home life, spiritual life, emotional, mental or physical health. Whatever you are looking to achieve, remember that even small changes toward that goal can make a big difference. If you have ever read about someone’s weight loss success story, it probably included a series of small changes that a person made and sustained over time to achieve a larger weight loss goal.

As a part of my series about women in wellness, I had the pleasure of interviewing Katie Gallagher.

Katie is a veteran educator and school administrator. In her current role as Director of Education at Candor Health Education, she is able to join her experience as an educator with her passion for improving the physical and emotional health and wellness of young people.

Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! Our readers would love to “get to know you” better. Can you share your “backstory” with us?

Sure! I spent over twenty years as a teacher and administrator at the elementary and middle school levels before joining Candor Health Education. At Candor, we provide substance abuse prevention and sex education programs to students in 4th-8th grade. Candor has provided the perfect opportunity for me to utilize my expertise in education to support young people in making informed decisions about their health and well-being. Nothing is more important than the mental and physical health of the young people in our schools.

Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you started your career? What were the main lessons or takeaways from that story?

As I began my career as an administrator, I thought I had things pretty figured out. I had taught for a while and had been involved in strategic planning initiatives at a schoolwide level. However, I had a Head of School who was constantly checking in with me and offering advice. At the time, I saw this as being overbearing and micromanaging, but now realize how much I learned from her and how generous it was of her to take so much time to help me learn and grow. Never underestimate the importance of good mentorship! Take it where you can get it!

It has been said that our mistakes can be our greatest teachers. Can you share a story about a mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

As a teacher, I made the mistake of thinking more was better, more reading, more facts, more homework. Now looking back, it is so clear that less is more. Cramming more facts into young people, is not the way to help them learn. They need opportunities to connect to the information they are learning to the world around them, opportunities to apply new ideas and test them out. As we design new health curriculum at Candor, I keep this in mind. Students may only remember a few key facts from a health program, but they will remember stories, real-life examples and how they can apply the information they learn.

Let’s jump to our main focus. When it comes to health and wellness, how is the work you are doing helping to make a bigger impact in the world?

Our work at Candor Health Education is to provide primary prevention to young people in the areas of substance abuse and sex education. We know that prevention is critical to supporting health and wellness. Young people need to have the knowledge about how to protect themselves, so that they are able to make informed decisions when situations present themselves. There is plenty of research to support the old adage “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.”

Can you share your top five “lifestyle tweaks” that you believe will help support people’s journey towards better wellbeing? Please give an example or story for each.

For me, wellbeing is all about balance. It is something I am always striving for, but here are a few things that have helped me along the way:

• Practice gratitude. It is a scientific fact that our brains naturally tend to focus on the negative. Train your brain by explicitly practicing gratitude. Try keeping a gratitude journal, or reaching out to others to say “thank you.”
• Block out time for the things that are important to you. That may be exercise, a hobby, spending time with family, or any of a number of things. Guard and protect that time. If you don’t take time to fill up your tank, you will not be able to go the distance in other areas of your life.
• Make time for friends. Friends are there through ups and downs and often know you better than anyone. Keep in touch, find time for coffee, a walk, a lunch or a dinner. Sometimes you need to be with someone who just “gets it.”
• Get rest. This may be in the form of a regular daily break, a beach vacation or simply getting to bed “on time.” When I am not rested, I find myself short-tempered, more anxious and easily frustrated. It is amazing what some rest and relaxation will do.
• Set goals. These may be goals to improve your work life, home life, spiritual life, emotional, mental or physical health. Whatever you are looking to achieve, remember that even small changes toward that goal can make a big difference. If you have ever read about someone’s weight loss success story, it probably included a series of small changes that a person made and sustained over time to achieve a larger weight loss goal.

If you could start a movement that would bring the most amount of wellness to the most amount of people, what would that be?

I would start a wellness movement in schools around connection: faculty and staff building real connections with students so that students feel engaged and heard in their school communities, students participating in more programs and activities and having more opportunities to contribute and lead in their school communities. In our busy, on-line lives, we are not building enough real-world, real-time connections with one another. By investing in this, we will have young people who grow up with the social skills, confidence and self-esteem needed to navigate the ups and downs of adulthood.

What are your “5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Started” and why?

Here is a short list of things that I have learned that I wish I had known at the start:

• It is okay if you don’t know what your “passion” is at the start of your career journey, sometimes you don’t know until you dive in and give something a try. One experience will lead to another and you will gain a clearer sense of your interests, strengths and passions.
• No matter what you do, keep people first. By this I mean, the key to success in any field is building connections with others, putting the needs of others at the forefront of what you do and how you do it. It is through these connections that you will feel fulfilled and you will grow the most.
• Sometimes while in the trenches, you can get bogged down in the day to day. It can be hard to see the good you are doing but stay the course. Keep the end goal in mind and revisit it frequently to help you push forward.
• Expect to have setbacks. Life is unpredictable and does not happen along a linear path. When something does not go as expected, regroup, set a plan, lean on others and move forward.
• There will be great days and not-so-great days. Don’t let yourself focus too long on the negative. You will find that the great days outnumber the not-so-great.

Sustainability, veganism, mental health, and environmental changes are big topics at the moment. Which one of these causes is dearest to you, and why?

Mental health is the cause dearest to me. Often when someone is struggling with mental health it is invisible to those around them, yet it pervades every aspect of that person’s life, often becoming very debilitating. Since mental health is often “hidden” from view, too often people struggle alone. Mental health must be something that we need to talk about more and that we get more resources behind. Resources include everything from increased social emotional learning in our schools to therapeutic and clinical support.

What is the best way for our readers to further follow your work online?

Please find more information at www.candorhealthed.org. I encourage you to subscribe to our newsletter to stay up to date on issues impacting young people today.

Thank you for these fantastic insights! We wish you continued success and good health.

---

Women In Wellness: Katie Gallagher of Candor Health Education On The Five Lifestyle Tweaks That… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Female Founders: Dianna Smith of Hadobody On The Five Things You Need To Thrive and Succeed as a Woman Founder

An Interview With Candice Georgiadis

Get into the grind as soon as possible. — As a founder, getting your hands on the product or service and engaging with the end user as quickly as possible is paramount for success. In the beginning phase, this can’t be delegated to employees or paid advertising. Being involved in all areas of the product, service and business while it is getting off of the ground is critical to understand your customer and their needs.

As a part of our series about “Why We Need More Women Founders”, I had the pleasure of interviewing Dianna Smith.

Dianna Smith is the founder of Hadobody, a wellness and sustainable lifestyle brand featuring men’s and women’s apparel, accessories and home goods! Dianna began her holistic wellness journey with a breast cancer diagnosis in 2010. With this experience she dove deep into holistic wellness and personal healing which has led her to want to share her experience and understanding of holistic wellbeing with the world through beautifully constructed and ethically sourced personal lifestyle and home goods.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dig in, our readers would like to get to know you a bit more. Can you tell us a bit about your “backstory”? What led you to this particular career path?

My story begins about 25 years ago as I embarked on a career path in a very competitive and male dominated industry. As a single mother, building a highly successful business, I often sacrificed my personal wellbeing taking care of my family, my clients and my business before looking after my own personal needs. In hindsight, I realized that I lived in a chronic state of fight or flight. Over time, this took its toll on my health and in 2010, 12 years into my career, I was given a health diagnosis that stopped me in my tracks at the age of 47. I had breast cancer.

I allowed this diagnosis to serve as a wakeup call for the deep need to come back and embrace my Femininity and learn how to lead and create in an integrated way. I had become very good at “getting things done” and “driving results’ ‘. I had my boxing gloves on every day, ready for the good fight! I learned that it would be supportive to remember how to lean into my feminine energy and strengths in order to embrace, both my masculine and feminine energies, in order to create a well-rounded approach to my life. This was the continuation of my journey into holistic wellness and spirituality. At the time of the diagnosis I began my spiritual work with an energy healer from Germany. Her name is Ursula and I study and practice with her still today.

As my journey continued, I fell in love with the work of Nikola Tesla, the study of energy and vibration. I devoured everything I could from Dr. Emoto’s work on the qualities of water, Dr. Joe Dispenza, Lynne McTaggart, The HeartMath Institute and everything I could find on energy, vibration and intention. I always knew there was a mind, body, spirit connection and now it was all coming together. I learned (remembered) of the many tools that are available to me, and everyone, which can be used to affect change in my mind, my spirit and therefore I could actively participate in the healing of my body.

What I continue to observe is that technology is allowing science to catch up with spirituality. We now have tools which can measure our energetic bodies, our energetics fields, our brain waves, even our heart auras. I am able to incorporate this information into my daily life. We all have access to these tools. I want everyone to know about them.

As I think of the origins of Hadobody, I knew I wanted to educate and inspire people to understand the subtle nuances of energy and how that can affect our lives but I didn’t know how to deliver it… yet.

In 2012, while thriving in my intense corporate career, I had the overwhelming feeling that I had to create something bigger than myself and help to spread the word about subtle energy, in a fun and gentle way, along with all of the tools and concepts that are available to each of us today.

It was during this time, the name of the business came to me, Hadobody. Hado means the first vibration in nature. Hadobody came immediately to mind. Wouldn’t it be great if we could infuse our body with positive self-affirmation through our most intimate clothing, using eco-friendly and body friendly fibers. I immediately trademarked the name Hadobody, hence the concept of Hadobody was born in 2012.

I wanted to find a personal way for people to literally wear their daily affirmation and what a more perfect way than to design intimate wear for men and women with personal self-affirmations adorning the garments. Of course, the fabrics must be sustainable, and in 2019 the first designs of Hadobody were produced. You can link to our website here www.hadobody.com.

Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began leading your company?

As a founder, you have a general plan, you put the elements of the plan into place, you measure results, then make adjustments. There have been many times, and there will be more, where I ask, what am I missing, what is my next step? I have learned that this is the point where I stop, get quiet and ask, often out loud, what do I need to know? What else do we need to do or have? What resources am I not thinking of? What is my next step? The interesting part of this, as I go about my business, within the next few days or weeks the answer sits next to me on a plane, or on the beach, comes through a random introduction, or even a text message!

Recently, I sat next to a stranger on the plane, we struck up a conversation and he had a solution to the question I was asking the universe just a few days prior to this serendipitous meeting! That conversation led to an introduction to a team that could help take our reach to the next level. Just yesterday we were in a zoom meeting as he was kind enough to introduce me to a trusted colleague for just the service I have been seeking. Another example, while on the beach talking with my girlfriend, we discovered that her daughter knew a woman who had expertise in the area we needed expert advice in. The introductions were made and we were able to consult with an experienced expert in the industry. These are two examples and I can go on! The more we trust the universe and ask the questions, the more we get quiet in prayer or meditation and allow the answers to come to us, the more we will get the answers we are seeking. This is my belief.

It is my experience that the answers appear when you ask the question and then allow yourself to receive the answer. The moral of the story, trust that when we ask the questions, the answers will come. Be still, be open and receptive.

Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

In the initial product development phase of Hadobody, we were creating patterns and samples, which required fabric selections. I knew that we had to work with sustainable fabrics. For Hadobody, this means it cannot be made of polyester or rayon, which are typically the base of many “performance” stretchy fabrics. I selected a very silky soft fabric with a little bit of stretch in it. The sample was made and part of the process is wearing it to see how it holds up and feels. By the end of the day, the fabric had stretched out so much that the undies just fell completely off, to the floor! Not a good outcome for an undie, for sure, needless to say, we did not use that particular fabric blend!

This is important to me, in terms of sustainability, many performance fabrics and many fabrics that our society has worn for decades are plastic and petroleum based, you may be familiar with polyester, rayon, and even spandex. We are literally wearing clothing made of petroleum next to our largest organ, our skin, and intimate parts of our bodies. This is not healthy for the human body and often not thought of as a health concern. It’s very challenging to source fabrics that have performance qualities and are still sustainable and affordable. For the health of our bodies and Planet Earth, we need to continue to create fibers and fabrics that take less resources to process and that are made with natural fibers. At Hadobody, it is one of our missions to continue to develop fibers and fabrics that are healthy on our bodies and gentle on the planet.

None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?

There are so many people that I am so very grateful for! May I indulge and give you a few more than one person? Thank you! My mom, first and foremost, she told me that I could do anything that I set my mind to and I believed her. She is a beautiful seamstress and I learned so much about clothing construction and design watching her make all my clothes when I was a little girl growing up. My daughter grounded me into love, success and the drive to make things happen. My energy healers and coaches, Ursula and Ana who both continue to support my journey and that I hold council with daily. And of course, my husband who supports me, believes in me and is my life partner and my business partner.

Ok, thank you for that. Let’s now jump to the primary focus of our interview. According to this EY report, only about 20 percent of funded companies have women founders. This reflects great historical progress, but it also shows that more work still has to be done to empower women to create companies. In your opinion and experience what is currently holding back women from founding companies?

We are making progress, yet still the process is too slow. The pandemic brought on many challenges for everyone, especially women. With every challenge, opportunity is also presented. In 2021, 49% of all new business start-ups were women owned, which is up from 28% in 2019, according to weforum.org. I believe that women are finding their voices and their power. We are ready to take the risk of putting our ideas into the world in a faster fashion than we have ever seen before, this movement is gaining momentum and it needs to continue to grow.

There are still many challenges that women face as founders. Access to capital and resources is the biggest obstacle, in my opinion. The traditional banks are difficult to navigate through for a start up business and venture capital and private equity are still male dominated. We need more successful women to put together their own venture capital funds and resources that are able to seed the great ideas that women consistently bring to the table. Today, non-bank financing options are available, at higher than market interest rates. Depending on the conviction and overall situation of the founder, this may be an option.

Can you help articulate a few things that can be done as individuals, as a society, or by the government, to help overcome those obstacles?

As individuals, let’s remember that every dollar makes a difference. We can support women owned businesses by making intentional shopping decisions based on the woman owned business and business ethos. More women are getting into venture capital due to their own personal success and reinvesting in other women owned businesses helping them to succeed. This is huge and we are seeing it a bit more now in private equity, as well. Studies show, women with money tend to think about helping their families, others and their communities. Women with money tend to give back and help others. Studies, like The Power of the Purse, also show that women and young people are looking for brands they can trust, brands that provide quality goods and services, brands that are inclusive, sustainable and hold similar values they themselves stand for.

I believe that individuals are the best stewards of their own capital. We need to get more capital into the hands of women. We need a boost up on this, I think this comes from successful women and men, investing in women founders.

As a society, one decision at a time eventually creates a collective and there becomes a tipping point where we begin to value and focus on what is good for our bodies, our society, and our planet over a focus on cheaper things faster. This is happening now and it will give direction to decisions being made as we move forward into a more regenerative future for ourselves and our planet. I believe that individuals and free markets are more resourceful than government mandates, which can often have unintended consequences.

This might be intuitive to you as a woman founder but I think it will be helpful to spell this out. Can you share a few reasons why more women should become founders?

Women in decision making capacities tend to focus on helping their family and their community. We are naturally very strong leaders. We are wonderful collaborators. We are intuitive. We are incredibly innovative. We are patient enough to see things through and allow things to grow and we are nimble enough to make those gentle shifts and pivots that are needed when founding a new concept or company.

We are strong beyond compare and we can bring in feminine energies of collaboration, love, empathy while also utilizing masculine energy used for creating structure, drive and action. We can create balance and synergies in the business world, just like we have done for our families and societies for centuries. And yes, we are good at math and science, too!

What are the “myths” that you would like to dispel about being a founder? Can you explain what you mean?

Myth 1:

Everything goes according to plan as long as you have a plan.

You can have the best plan and there are going to be curve balls thrown at you, just know you can solve all issues. There is a solution.

Myth 2:

Everything has to be perfectly lined up before you get started.

Sometimes you just have to start, just do it, and make adjustments as you go!

Myth 3:

Everything takes 2x longer and is 2x more expensive.

Everything takes 3x to 5x longer and is also that much more expensive, plan ahead for that. Keep grinding it out and set your sights on your intentions and goals. Check in with your plan, make shifts as needed, and keep moving forward — even when it seems impossible.

Myth 4:

You’ll have more flexibility in your schedule.

Your time is not your own in the beginning. It will take long hours, weekends, to get your business up and running. In the beginning you will need to work both hard and smart! As the infrastructure is built, you can find great people to delegate to, but in the beginning, it’s likely all you! You will need to work both smart and hard.

Myth 5:

You will be your own boss.

You will have many types of people to answer to! Your team as you develop that part of your business, your customers or clients, as well as your shareholders and investors!

Is everyone cut out to be a founder? In your opinion, which specific traits increase the likelihood that a person will be a successful founder and what type of person should perhaps seek a “regular job” as an employee? Can you explain what you mean?

There are certain qualities that are helpful and even required to be a successful founder such as: Passion, Drive, Irreverence, Ambition, High Energy, a High Pain Tolerance (lol!), and more!

I believe that when someone has the passion for their idea or business, these traits can be learned, when you have a vision big enough. We all have capabilities beyond our current understanding of ourselves. I believe that when we stretch ourselves, we find more of what we are seeking. We all have brilliance within us.

Someone that may seem better suited for a 9 to 5 type of work may have an idea for a new gadget or business and that can spark their passion that unleashes their full potential, allowing them to be a successful founder. Another person may use their passion or spark towards their family, their community or some other outlet besides founding a company — and we very much benefit from all of this, just in different ways.

Ok super. Here is the main question of our interview. What are your “5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Started” and why? (Please share a story or example for each.)

1. Get into the grind as soon as possible.

As a founder, getting your hands on the product or service and engaging with the end user as quickly as possible is paramount for success. In the beginning phase, this can’t be delegated to employees or paid advertising. Being involved in all areas of the product, service and business while it is getting off of the ground is critical to understand your customer and their needs.

2. It is likely going to cost 3–5x more than you are planning on.

Create your business plan and projections, then estimate the plan to cost 3 to 5 times more than your projections in both time and money. When you do this and execute ahead of plan, you can enjoy that success. Be prepared for the worst, celebrate when you have better than expected outcomes.

3. You will have self-doubt.

It’s OK, just don’t let it get the best of you. Launching a new company is a critical time that a founder needs to learn how to lean into the feeling of success. How does it feel to achieve the goals that you have established for your start up company? Take the time to be quiet with yourself, go into meditation, then once your brain waves are fully receptive, imagine through visualization what your business success looks like, what it feels like, what it even smells like — visualize every single detail. Do this at least once a day, twice a day is ideal. I love the ZIVA meditation process created by Emily Fletcher, which uses Mindfulness, Meditation and Manifesting for a total of 15 minutes, 2x per day.

4. Be very clear on your WHY for starting your business.

Keep it simple: a one word or one phrase WHY is the most powerful. Be vulnerable enough to share your WHY with the world. Take your time on this and you will thank yourself in the days ahead. When you can share your clear WHY with a client, customer, manufacturing partner, supplier, and advertising team your Voice, as the business, is more clearly defined. Clear is Kind. Clear is Powerful. Know Your WHY and be prepared to share it. I did this work and yet it felt very vulnerable to share my WHY in the beginning. It took practice to state my WHY in an elegant fashion. It was scary, and it takes alot to scare me! When I allowed myself to share my WHY with people, I was astounded at the beautiful responses that I received from people. I also found that people who loved the brand, and after learning my WHY, they LOVED the brand! Know Your WHY and Share it Often! My WHY: I want to remind people how magnificent they truly are.

5. Digital Marketing is still the Wild Wild West. You know your why, you know the voice of your brand, but unless you are a coder or an expert at SEO and Paid Advertising on the digital platforms, it is still difficult to find a team of professionals that can actually execute on achieving results with paid advertising alone. Three things on this:

• Research and interview the top digital marketing agencies within your price point. Once you’re satisfied with your q&a process, ask them for references from clients they have in your industry and also with start up companies. If they cannot provide that to you, move on to the next agency. They must have experience within your industry as well as with start-up companies.
• Read the data daily, weekly, monthly. What insights are you picking up from the trends you are seeing? No one will care more about your business than you, be your own advocate and don’t just assume that because you hired a great team for your digital marketing that they are executing as well as you deserve or could be. Stay on top of this and manage this.
• People buy from People. Create relationships with influencers in your industry, collaborate with affinity brands and products, sponsor podcasts, get out there and be the voice of your brand and company. Have a holistic approach to your marketing. Digital marketing is table stakes, you have to have it, but also utilize other methods of building raving fans, through relationships and people. Get out there and mingle and let everyone experience how magnificent that you truly are!

How have you used your success to make the world a better place?

Yes and we are just getting started. First of all, each one of our team members earn above market wages, even when they are part-time. Our primary manufacturer, which is LA, California based, also pays living wages, provides great benefits and takes care of their people. This is important to us. We use as many sustainable materials as we possibly can, which is a bit more difficult to source and the costs are still higher than most petroleum based fabrics and materials. We also give back with each purchase. We have hand selected 7 charities, as our Impact Partners, that align with each of the Seven Chakras in the Seven Chakra System. With every purchase a percent of the profits go to the Impact Partner that is aligned with that particular Chakra Collection. We believe that we need to hit on all areas in order to truly be a Conscious Company paving the way as to how all companies will be ran going forward. We see this trend happening now and we strive to lead the way in this category.

You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good for the greatest number of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger.

I would love to see the movement where every single person looks at themselves in the mirror each morning and says out loud I AM Awesome. I AM Powerful, I AM Enough. I AM Brilliant. I AM Love. Whatever feels good to them. #IAM! When every single person on this planet remembers how magnificent they truly are, they can be the best version of themselves. When we do this easy practice consistently, our energy gently shifts and we send our positive vibrations out into the world, creating a ripple effect of positivity throughout the ocean of oneness that we all live in!

We are very blessed that some very prominent names in Business, VC funding, Sports, and Entertainment read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the US with whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she might just see this if we tag them.

Oh Wow! There are so many awesome people that I would love to connect with privately! I would have to say, Elon Musk. Elon is a visionary, he is bold, controversial, he knows how to shake things up. I would love to sit down with Elon and talk about his vision for a cleaner planet, the future of technology and how it relates to the human species, and how spirituality plays a role in our energetic fields. I would love to know more about how he may or may not study the works done by Nikola Tesla as he creates things that are changing the trajectory of our planet. As you know, I believe that technology is allowing science to catch up with spirituality, I would love to hear what Elon thinks on this topic, as well. And Oh, Aliens, we have to discuss space travel and our galactic friends!

Thank you for these fantastic insights. We greatly appreciate the time you spent on this.

---

Female Founders: Dianna Smith of Hadobody On The Five Things You Need To Thrive and Succeed as a… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

An Interview With Candice Georgiadis

Josiah: The number one thing you need to thrive as a power couple is to understand and support each other’s strengths and weaknesses. By doing so, you’ll not only succeed in business, but also strengthen your relationship with one another.

As a part of our series about lessons from Thriving Power Couples, I had the pleasure of interviewing Josiah and Meg Mothershed of Mothershed Design Co. As a husband-wife team, Meg and Josiah are partners in love, life, and business. Having been together for nearly a decade and running a business for six of those years, this dynamic duo has expanded to an international client base and achieved recurring six-figure yearly sales, all while maintaining freedom over their time and a relentless passion for the design field. Josiah and Meg use their unique talents and skills to help small businesses succeed by building brands and websites that stand out, attract the right customers, and drive growth.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Can you tell us a story about what brought you two to your respective career paths?

Josiah: After years spent working as a graphic designer for agencies and in-house teams, I was feeling frustrated and unfulfilled. Having been involved in every step of the design process, I knew what it took to run a project from start to finish and felt I could do it better. So, in 2016 I struck out on my own and formed Mothershed Design Co. shortly after Meg and I got married.

Meg: At the time Josiah started the studio, I was working as an in-house graphic designer at a nonprofit. While it was a great job as a recent graduate, it left me craving more. Having always wanted to own my own business since I was six years old, joining Josiah at MDCo. was a no-brainer! I quit my job and joined him in the business full time in 2016 and we’ve never looked back.

Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you two got married?

Meg: One of the biggest and most exciting things to have happened to us since getting married is definitely having a baby! Our daughter was born in August 2022 and has already brought such joy into our lives.

Josiah: Now, not only do we share the titles of husband and wife and business partners, but “mom” and “dad” too! It’s been an incredible journey so far and we’re only just beginning the big adventure that is parenthood.

Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

Josiah: When we first started working together, we were used to working pretty independently and didn’t always communicate about what we were working on, leading to us sometimes working on the same thing at the same time!

Meg: We quickly learned the importance of clear communication and began to define our roles within the business. I focus on running the operations of the business, managing projects, and handling strategy and copywriting for clients, while Josiah (our creative genius), does the heavy lifting on design and web development.

What do you think makes your company stand out? Can you share a story?

Meg: Mothershed Design Co. isn’t your typical design studio. We’re not a big agency and we’re not flaky freelancers. We’re the best of both worlds: we’ve got the multi-faceted skills of an agency and the flexibility of freelancers, without the expensive overhead or unreliability.

Josiah: We’re a tiny but mighty team that believes in the power of staying small. With too many cooks in the kitchen, your message can get lost in translation. We keep our operations small to ensure clear communication. That’s why we only take on projects that we can do using our own skills to provide the best service possible.

Are you working on any exciting new projects now? How do you think that will help people?

Josiah: We’re currently working on several rebranding projects for new clients! Rebrands are our bread and butter. We love taking an existing brand that feels outdated or poorly designed and transforming it into one that reflects the value the business provides and stands out from the competition!

What advice would you give to other CEOs or founders to help their employees to thrive?

Meg: When working with your team, remember to put yourself in their shoes. What will motivate them? What are they passionate about? It’s easy to fall into “the boss” role and forget what it’s like to be an employee. By understanding their perspective, you can better meet their needs and build a strong team.

How do you define “Leadership”?

Josiah: Leadership means always putting others first. Whether that be your children, spouse, close friends, or clients, a true leader puts others’ needs before their own and strives to serve as an excellent example of humanity.

None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?

Meg: We’re definitely each other’s biggest support system. One of the biggest strengths in our relationship is our ability to work as a united team in everything we do.

Josiah: Everything we take on is to benefit us as a family. Running a business isn’t always easy, but there’s no one else in the world I’d rather be doing it with.

How have you used your success to bring goodness to the world?

Meg: While there’s plenty of big companies doing great things, we’re most passionate about helping small businesses succeed. Small businesses are the backbone of our economy. It’s our goal to support them by building brands and websites that stand out, attract the right customers, and drive growth.

What are the “5 Things You Need To Thrive As A Couple”? Please share a story or example for each.

Josiah: The number one thing you need to thrive as a power couple is to understand and support each other’s strengths and weaknesses. By doing so, you’ll not only succeed in business, but also strengthen your relationship with one another.

Having defined roles and responsibilities is also incredibly important. Use what you each are passionate about (and not so passionate about), to determine who does what to find the most fulfillment in your work.

Meg: Don’t forget to ask for help. Josiah and I are both major “do-it-yourself-ers” who like to take on everything ourselves. That can sometimes translate to not wanting to ask for help when we need it. Over the years, we’ve learned that asking for help is not only necessary but also gives the other person the opportunity to show their support.

Josiah: On that note, don’t forget to take a break! As both partners in life and in business, it’s easy to allow work to take over. We often have to remind ourselves to take a step back and rest once in a while.

Meg: Lastly, remember that at the end of the day, it’s still just work. Projects come and go, but ultimately it’s the love you have for one another that matters most.

You are people of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂

Josiah: At Mothershed Design Co., we believe in small, sustainable growth. We have found that’s the key to our success, both professionally and personally. Constantly doing creative work can be both incredibly rewarding and challenging. It’s easy to quickly become burned out doing something you love.

Meg: Our goal as a business is to support other small businesses through branding and web design while maintaining the motivation that made us want to start a business in the first place — freedom over our time and spending that time doing something meaningful.

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?

Meg: Something we constantly remind ourselves is to “be comfortable with being uncomfortable.”

Josiah: As both entrepreneurs and creatives, pushing yourself out of your comfort zone is crucial to achieving your dreams. If you only pursued what you were familiar with, you’d never experience anything new. You would stay in the same place with the same people in the same situations.

Meg: It can be downright scary to go after what you truly want, but life is too short to be left wondering, “what if?”

We are very blessed that some of the biggest names in Business, VC funding, Sports, and Entertainment read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the US with whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she might just see this if we tag them 🙂

Meg: Hands down it would be Marcus Lemonis! I’ve been a huge fan of his for years. From watching every episode of The Profit (several times over), to following his journey online, I find him to be an amazing source of inspiration as a small business owner. He offers practical, realistic advice on running a business that anyone can learn from and I love his focus on “people, process, and product” to achieve success.

How can our readers follow your work online?

Josiah: You can learn more about our story at MothershedDesign.com or follow along with us on Instagram at @mothershed_design.

Thank you so much for joining us. This was very inspirational.

---

Lessons from a Thriving Power Couple, With Josiah & Meg Mothershed of Mothershed Design Co was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Women In Wellness: Clara Sage Sartor On The Five Lifestyle Tweaks That Will Help Support People’s Journey Towards Better Wellbeing

An Interview With Candice Georgiadis

Pets can be therapeutic; consider adopting one. I’ve had dogs almost all my life and moving out to the West Coast away from my support system was a huge life change for me. The best thing I did for my health since I’ve been out here was adopt my pup, Hershey. This rescue has been the best thing for my mental health (especially when in the throes of medical school), my physical health with motivating me to exercise, and my emotional health with all the laughter she brings!

As a part of my series about women in wellness, I had the pleasure of interviewing Clara Sage Sartor, Doctor of Naturopathic Medicine.

Clara Sage Sartor is a doctor of naturopathic medicine and author for Fullscript currently finishing her doctorate in acupuncture. She was born and raised in Virginia where she completed her undergraduate degree with a major in mathematical biology and minor in French and Francophone studies. She hopes to return to the East Coast and open an integrative clinic that delivers individualized and community medicine.

Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! Our readers would love to “get to know you” better. Can you share your “backstory” with us?

I’m from northern Virginia, which we call NOVA or part of the DMV (D.C., Maryland, Virginia) area. I have one older sister who chose the allopathic medicine route and is now a medical doctor (MD) in Charlotte, North Carolina. Our love of medicine started at an early age from solving mysteries as Nancy Drew. Fewer things are as interesting, complex, and yet to be discovered as the human body. Our parents worked tirelessly in government jobs, so the belief in helping others and service was instilled in us from the beginning. We had the fortune of being raised by our grandparents as well, and watching them age and struggle with difficulties and illness that can come with age really influenced me to want to be a part of that solution. As a child, I struggled with my own health, mainly with chronic back pain, joint pain, and insomnia. Often, I did not feel heard when I went to see doctors. I decided to become a naturopathic doctor and acupuncturist because I wanted to be the kind of doctor who listens, can offer a variety of modalities to patients to fit their individual needs, and to be the doctor that I felt my family deserved and everyone deserves.

Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you started your career? What were the main lessons or takeaways from that story?

The most interesting story that happened to me was working during an acupuncture shift at my naturopathic medical school. There was a patient who desired to get pregnant and had undergone several rounds of in-vitro fertilization and other Western methods to help with fertility, to no avail. She came to us as a last resort, based on hearing good things from other people we’ve treated. She had one final in-vitro attempt scheduled in two weeks, but we were determined to help in any way we could. I’ve never felt such an immense degree of both honor and pressure. Through the use of Western methods and our acupuncture protocol, she was able to conceive, and I had the fortune of seeing her come in as a pregnant patient! Knowing that I was a part of her fertility journey was incredibly rewarding. The main lesson I have taken from that is to never give up hope and to really utilize all modalities and options, both traditional or nontraditional, to help create the best outcome for your patients.

It has been said that our mistakes can be our greatest teachers. Can you share a story about the biggest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

The biggest mistake I made when I first started was not knowing my boundaries. This is something honestly I still struggle with today, but I try to improve on this however I can. For example, I had a patient arrive 30 minutes after his appointment, and the front desk and other personnel, including myself, allowed it. I was new and needed the experience and didn’t want to say no, even though taking the client meant allowing the clinic to close far later than it should since he was the last appointment. As someone who tries hard to stay on track with appointments out of respect for my patients’ time, I remember feeling frustrated that the person didn’t respect my time and was even demanding an extra-long session that day! Nevertheless, we are still close and it’s something we actually laugh about now, but I learned that for people to respect my boundaries, I have to respect myself and stay true to the boundaries that I set.

Let’s jump to our main focus. When it comes to health and wellness, how is the work you are doing helping to make a bigger impact in the world?

My naturopathic medical degree was part of the community health honors track program, so I got to spend a great deal of time working in community clinics. Fewer things I’ve experienced are more rewarding, and I hope to open up my own community clinic or help out in one already established when I move back to the East Coast. Looking bigger and into the future, I want to work with Naturopaths Without Borders and see if I can volunteer in Francophone Africa to utilize my language and medical skills to help anyone in need. I’m hoping that I’m part of a movement that is demonstrating that the future is individualized care, and that a painkiller for one person with a headache may not work for another with the same kind of headache. People are unique and their treatment plans should be, too, and that’s the focus we need to shift towards: working together integratively to heal people with individualized medicine.

Can you share your top five “lifestyle tweaks” that you believe will help support people’s journey towards better wellbeing? Please give an example or story for each.

1. Pets can be therapeutic; consider adopting one. I’ve had dogs almost all my life and moving out to the West Coast away from my support system was a huge life change for me. The best thing I did for my health since I’ve been out here was adopt my pup, Hershey. This rescue has been the best thing for my mental health (especially when in the throes of medical school), my physical health with motivating me to exercise, and my emotional health with all the laughter she brings!
2. Treat yo’ self! All my fellow Parks and Recreation fans already know about this one, but self-care is so important. Mine are candles, soap, and plants! Find out what self-care means to you and nourish yourself by cultivating that.
3. Discover new hobbies; try new things. Everyone has something they enjoy, and that’s wonderful, but don’t be afraid to try something new. Stepping out of our comfort zone can help us grow socially and mentally. I started Kung Fu mid-December of 2021 (because I’m horrible at keeping New Year’s resolutions so figured I’d start one before the year started), and I am a first degree gold belt and loving every minute of it.
4. Do your brain aerobics! Try to do something that stretches your brain, daily. This can be puzzles, reading, audio books, brain games like Lumosity, sudoku, or other brain games. This helps strengthen our neuronal network and make new connections, making our brain even stronger.
5. Stay movin’. Whether it’s swimming every evening, jogging Saturday mornings, or just getting up every hour from the cubicle to stretch, try to stay moving. A sedentary lifestyle is one of the worst things for our health, so even if it’s just a quick walk to the water fountain, try to stay moving whenever you can.

If you could start a movement that would bring the most amount of wellness to the most amount of people, what would that be?

I think my movement would be community gardening. I imagine community gardens just everywhere and people are able to actually obtain healthy produce without spending an arm and a leg. Not only does being in nature help with our wellbeing (as we see with forest bathing and grounding), but it would help bring the community together which I think is vital, particularly today. Nutrition and diet is also one of the biggest barriers to health because food deserts pose problems to many communities, buying healthful foods can be inaccessible to many, and there is a large gap in knowledge between the level of knowledge of food health in some consumers as opposed to others. Working with Fullscript, I’ve been able to write articles on health and wellness including these important topics of nutrition and diet options with the hope of practicing Docere, one of our naturopathic principles and equipping others with more information to be able to make informed decisions on their food choices. Understanding is actually healthy and

what the foods we put into our body does to our health is essential in giving patients autonomy

on their own health. So, by having these community gardens, actually being able to show people how to self-sustain and grow these foods themselves, having a way where people get to take these healthful produce home, and to educate communities on food choices would be an absolute dream.

What are your “5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Started” and why?

1. “It’s ok to fail” and “Don’t let fear of failure control what you do.” I don’t know who needs to hear this, but I wish someone had told me it was ok to fail. When I moved cross country, I was so scared of failure and letting down my family and things not panning out well. All through naturopathic medical school, I was so scared of failure and falling behind my cohort. And then one day, the clinical coordinator told me to not let fear control what I do and that I’m far more prepared than I give myself credit. That day changed my life, and I only wish we’d had that conversation earlier!
2. “Find or create your community.” When I first moved out to Arizona for naturopathic medical school, I really didn’t feel I had any community at my school or anywhere nearby. So, I looked elsewhere. I joined Meetup where I made friends, online dating apps to meet new people, and I adopted my dog. I’m happy I created my community and wish I had only started that earlier.
3. “It’s ok to be weird; weird is good.” This is something I wish someone had told me back in grade school, but I’ve learned that being weird is a good thing. Experiences make you interesting and connect with others and have helped me so much in my ability to connect with people, from all walks of life.
4. “Nourish things that help you grow; reevaluate those that stunt your growth.” When I first came out for graduate school, I was supposed to come with a partner and ended up coming alone, through a break up. It was one of the most difficult experiences for me that undoubtedly turned into a time of enormous growth. I find that with job opportunities and hobbies, I am always looking for growth and to expand my skill set, but I had never thought about if my relationships were helping me grow. Now I really ponder if those I’m with add to my life or subtract from it, and vice versa.
5. “Make boundaries, and stick to them!” This is one I’m still working on but boundaries are so important in every sphere of life. I think knowing your limits and really respecting yourself to stick to that is incredibly important.

Sustainability, veganism, mental health, and environmental changes are big topics at the moment. Which one of these causes is dearest to you, and why?

All of those are incredibly important topics, but mental health is most dear to my heart. It’s something that affects everyone and is so important to every aspect of health. I’ve had anxiety for as long as I can remember. I know that growing up in NOVA with the intensity of the DMV and East Coast mentality has contributed to my anxiety, but I believe there is some beauty in it as well. Part of my anxiety has made me so driven to fight for injustice and take leadership roles that it helped me become president of my naturopathic medical school’s student government in the thick of COVID-19 and propelled me to keep fighting for better representation in diversity, equity, and inclusion. Part of that mentality has fueled my work ethic and conscientiousness and has pushed me to work multiple jobs while going to school full-time and going to acupuncture school part-time, which has helped me keep my loans lower. I think there is a fine line between anxiety and excitement and balancing that is key and not always easy, but seeing that and that it’s just a part of you that needs balancing has allowed me to look at all mental health in an embracing manner.

I think mental health still has such a stigma that needs to be broken and talking about these issues should be welcomed rather than shunned and avoided. I have valued my experiences with all the patients with some element of mental health with whom I’ve worked on improving. Mental health along with chronic pain, autoimmune disorders, and chronic diseases in general are areas in which I really want to focus my career.

What is the best way for our readers to further follow your work online?

I write wellness articles on Fullscript, so feel free to check out https://fullscript.com/ for articles I post. I’m still working on finalizing my website, but you can always friend me on Facebook or LinkedIn.

Thank you for these fantastic insights! We wish you continued success and good health.

---

Women In Wellness: Clara Sage Sartor On The Five Lifestyle Tweaks That Will Help Support People’s… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Steve Nudelberg of On the Ball Ventures On How to Use LinkedIn To Dramatically Improve Your Business

An Interview With Candice Georgiadis

Hands down it is LinkedIn. Most people do not view LinkedIn the way I do as I view it as the world’s biggest networking event that has 810 million people attend without geographical boundaries and the strategy that we apply is to meet like-minded people at scale which is very contrary to how other people use it which is the lazy approach to pitch and ditch.

As part of our series of interviews about “How to Use LinkedIn To Dramatically Improve Your Business”, I had the pleasure of interviewing Steve Nudelberg.

Steve Nudelberg is an author, expert sales trainer, business development expert, keynote speaker, and serial entrepreneur.

Starting out in the cellular phone industry in the 1980s provided the foundation for Steve’s future entrepreneurial success. After building and leading a winning national sales team for ABC Cellular, Steve found himself at a crossroads. In between jobs, he started receiving requests to match companies and personalities to sponsorship opportunities, primarily in the sports arena.

This gave birth to the idea of founding his own company On the Ball that offers the investment of time, talent, and teaching to help businesses grow. The primary focus of the company is on people, process, and priorities to improve pipeline development, modernize the sales process, help develop sales leadership, and build a culture that creates a memorable customer experience.

Today, the company’s exponential growth can be credited to an expertise in all things sales and a strategic commitment to helping individuals and organizations get 1% better every day.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?

So, I was brought up in an entrepreneurial family and our dinner table was always a conversation about growth. Throughout my career, I’ve always been able to bet on myself because I believe that everyone is one introduction away from changing the trajectory of their life and business.

Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you started this career?

As a career connector, I’m always looking for unique ways to connect with people and social media has created an incredible opportunity to create awareness. When I chose to invest my time and energy to learn all that LinkedIn has to offer which is roughly about 8 years ago, I met so many people that I would not have met in any other walk of life — the platform allowed us to connect. Probably one of the best ones was when an executive at Midas reached out to connect with me after seeing a photo of me and one of his colleagues, which led to them seeing all my content and getting a feel for who I am and as a result, it has turned into a long-standing relationship.

It has been said that our mistakes can be our greatest teachers. Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

My philosophy in business has always been to learn from my failures, so I agree that we learn from your mistakes. I’m not sure this one was so funny, but one that stands out to me is one that I wrote about my book Confessions of a Serial Salesman, and basically, it was a major deal that I thought was done as I was actually in Memphis sitting with the clients when I got a phone call that the property that we were going to do a naming rights deal for went in another direction. Instead of making it about me I made it about the clients which was a great lesson as they ultimately were hiring me to solve an awareness situation which I did with another resource.

Leadership often entails making difficult decisions or hard choices between two apparently good paths. Can you share a story with us about a hard decision or choice you had to make as a leader?

As our company was growing in the early stages I had to make the most difficult decision and that was to go from a small company that employed friends of mine to a growing company with people who were the right fit for our incredible growth.

Which social media platform have you found to be most effective to use to increase business revenues? Can you share a story from your experience?

Hands down it is LinkedIn. Most people do not view LinkedIn the way I do as I view it as the world’s biggest networking event that has 810 million people attend without geographical boundaries and the strategy that we apply is to meet like-minded people at scale which is very contrary to how other people use it which is the lazy approach to pitch and ditch.

Currently, I can meet CEOs, founders, and entrepreneurs at scale; some CEOs that I coach I have never been in the same room with which, prior to the pandemic, would have been unheard of.

Let’s talk about LinkedIn specifically, now. Can you share 5 ways to leverage LinkedIn to dramatically improve your business? Please share a story or example for each.

Here are my LinkedIn Rules of Engagement:

• Build an audience
• The Daily’s
• Feed the Feed
• Read the Feed
• Engage the Feed
• Check your notifications
• Do your research
• Finding leads on LinkedIn
• Through search
• Through your network
• Through the feed
• Asking for recommendations

Because of the position that you are in, you are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂

I would say that to create the biggest amount of change I would ask the sales community at large to quit cold pitching. There are better ways to communicate with people rather than interrupting their day trying to discuss things that are important to yourself and not them.

Also, identify strong partners and industries that you are passionate about to fuel your entrepreneurial spirit. Many years ago, I had the opportunity to meet Sean Flood and David Touwsma through a business interaction and today we work alongside one another as I again strive to lend my expertise to assist with the growth of EFO Ventures, an investment and incubation firm that backs founders and their innovative ideas not only with access to capital but also personal guidance and hands-on collaboration from the very first stages.

We are very blessed that some very prominent names in Business, VC funding, Sports, and Entertainment read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the US with whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she might just see this if we tag them

My network is vast, and I am fortunate to have access to many people but the opportunity to sit and have breakfast with Jocko Willink would be something. A place where I could really sink my teeth into his views on discipline and consistency as they align very well with mine.

Thank you so much for these great insights. This was very enlightening!

---

Steve Nudelberg of On the Ball Ventures On How to Use LinkedIn To Dramatically Improve Your… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

An Interview With Candice Georgiadis

It could be harder than you think is one piece of advice I didn’t get. On paper, you can identify all the hours needed to reach your goal. The numbers on paper are very different when you are thrust into the reality of devoting so much time to the new business. Until you have the experience, you cannot imagine how exhausting it can be.

As a part of our series about “Why We Need More Women Founders”, I had the pleasure of interviewing Michelle Klem.

Michelle made Palm City, Florida home in 2010 with her husband and two sons. Her sons Michael will be graduating Yale and Joseph graduating Martin County High this year. Their youngest boy, Jaxon, is in first grade at Palm City Elementary. Michelle found the fashion choices on the Treasure Coast limited, and started researching designers, trends, and sourcing to fill this beautiful new boutique. Featuring women’s contemporary luxury looks, Aanya’s Boutique carries the fashions of Frank Lyman, Seven for all Mankind Jeans, Chaser, Nouvelle, High Gorgeous, Hippie Beach Bum, Bululu, Grey Violet, Sofia, Fashion Nova, Moving Forward, Joseph Ribikoff, along with costume jewelry and accessories including shoes to match. For your contemporary designer looks, we would love to dress you for any occasion, dawn to dusk, finding that perfect look is what we are here to do. You’ll find Aanya’s boutique and its owner Michelle to be inexhaustible, limitless, and resurrected.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dig in, our readers would like to get to know you a bit more. Can you tell us a bit about your “backstory”? What led you to this particular career path?

When I moved to the Treasure Coast in Florida, I realized there were very limited women boutiques. I decided Palm City would be the perfect area to open one because there are so many stay at home, single, divorced, working mom’s who need a variety of fashion choices for their wardrobe.

Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began leading your company?

Three years ago, I started with a dream. Over these last 36 months, I’ve been planning and saving money to make my dream come true. The good news, the official Aanya’s Boutique grand opening happened this year! Interesting incidents occurred regularly on this path from dream to reality. It’s all new territory for me. One interesting day stands out. A few months before the grand opening I visited Atlanta’s Merchandise Mart, where designers display their latest creations. Buyers, like me, go to any one of hundreds of designers to establish relationships and place orders. The entire experience was fascinating and a bit overwhelming. Can you imagine spending over $20,000 in one day? This eye-opening experience escalated my enthusiasm (and my anxiety) for my new venture.

Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

It was getting close to the grand opening and thousands of dollars of merchandise had not arrived. It took me more time than I can admit, to notice this particular problem, while the boutique build-out construction was in full swing. Checking with my suppliers, it turns out that all my deliveries were being returned because they required a signature. Happily, I switched deliveries to home where my beautiful new clothes could be received safely. The shipping and the delivery of my merchandise was a big learning curve. Now I laugh that I was almost forced to open with the bare-bones inventory. There are many lessons to learn along the way. After this incident, I vowed to establish an order follow-up process, and keep a focus on all the little details.

None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?

There are many people who helped me fulfill my dream along the way, including two incredibly Special Coaches. My gratitude extends to them, and everyone who stepped up, propelling an idea in my head into a dream come true. It is my father, who, from the beginning, has been my biggest supporter. His construction, carpentry, and electrical skills transformed a tiny, empty storefront into a sophisticated boutique. The visions in my head and ideas from Pinterest came to life under my father’s skillful hands. What sticks out most is how my father listened to me and influenced me to take the leap and become an entrepreneur. With all his help over these last for three years, I couldn’t be more grateful for his talents and advice.

Ok, thank you for that. Let’s now jump to the primary focus of our interview. According to this EY report, only about 20 percent of funded companies have women founders. This reflects great historical progress, but it also shows that more work still has to be done to empower women to create companies. In your opinion and experience what is currently holding back women from founding companies?

For more than twenty years, I worked for entrepreneurs. Always giving 110% in every aspect of my work in hospitality, my bosses loved me. Witnessing my employers expand their business

While there were no significant gains in my bank account, I thought, why don’t I become my own boss and work this hard for myself? That is how my three-year journey to open a boutique started. The fear of failure and lack of capital are the two main reasons that keep many women from becoming their own bosses. Starting a business is scary with an unpredictable outcome.

Many people are too far outside their comfort zone to risk starting a business without a dependable income. Another main reason holding women back is the lack of available entrepreneurial training. Passion is usually extremely high when starting a business, but that won’t guarantee profits. Training, Market Research, and dedicated Coaches have helped me through the preparation and execution phase of starting my business. These initiatives could help more women become entrepreneurs.

Can you help articulate a few things that can be done as individuals, as a society, or by the government, to help overcome those obstacles?

The biggest needs are access to funds and training. In the US there are few schools dedicated to

training entrepreneurs.

This might be intuitive to you as a woman founder but I think it will be helpful to spell this out. Can you share a few reasons why more women should become founders?

Owning my own business allows me to control my destiny. Not depending on anyone else brings me joy. Successfully opening my boutique raised my self-esteem. With the profits predicted, my financial freedom is near. Although the statistics tell us only 20% of founders are women, under under the right circumstances, that number could be significantly higher. Women generally have a huge capacity for time management, juggling professional and personal priorities, and solving problems — the perfect entrepreneurial skill set. Owning a business isn’t for everyone, but for those who like to control their destiny and create financial freedom, having your own company can be the greatest gift to yourself.

What are the “myths” that you would like to dispel about being a founder? Can you explain what you mean?

Many people told me that I wouldn’t be able to do it all, essentially that I would fail at opening my own business. They were wrong. I set my intention on my goal and, it did take longer than anticipated, but I figured it all out along the way. And now I am a business owner.

Is everyone cut out to be a founder? In your opinion, which specific traits increase the likelihood that a person will be a successful founder and what type of person should perhaps seek a “regular job” as an employee? Can you explain what you mean?

Owning a business could be right for anyone with a “never-give-up” attitude, ambition, and is willing to work harder than ever.

Ok super. Here is the main question of our interview. What are your “5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Started” and why? (Please share a story or example for each.)

1. It could be harder than you think is one piece of advice I didn’t get. On paper, you can identify all the hours needed to reach your goal. The numbers on paper are very different when you are thrust into the reality of devoting so much time to the new business. Until you have the experience, you cannot imagine how exhausting it can be.

2. You are in a continuous learning environment. Out of necessity, I have learned nearly everything to start my company. Learning at every turn is thrilling as I love to develop my talents. Be prepared to earn a Ph.D. in entrepreneurship from the School of Hard Knocks if you start your own company.

3. My “I can do it all” approach led to several unwise expenditures. While I am doing In almost everything, I underestimated the budget required for outsourcing tasks. Accounting, Social Media Marketing, Public Relations, and supplemental staff are outsourced responsibilities that are now budgeted.

4. Throughout my life, one of my struggles has been managing my time effectively. It cannot be understated how important it is to manage your time, prioritize your tasks and stay focused on the most important responsibilities. This is one area where my Life Coach helped me tremendously.

5. Make self-care a priority. You are needed at the helm of your business, and you will need to stay healthy to carry your business forward. Your new business should not kill you or impact your health negatively. Frequently check yourself for signs of exhaustion and burn-out and prevent it before it sinks your business.

How have you used your success to make the world a better place?

With only a few months in business, I am focusing on the business. At present, my intention is to find ways to help other women and do my small part in making the world a better place.

You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good for the greatest number of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger.

It’s always important to give back to your community. I like to donate my time to local charities in my town.

We are very blessed that some very prominent names in Business, VC funding, Sports, and Entertainment read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the US with whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she might just see this if we tag them.

I am always picking others’ brains. I would love to pick John Maxwell’s brain. His views on Leadership If we could have a private meeting, I would ask him more about his views on Leadership. He inspires me with his Minute with Maxwell daily.

Thank you for these fantastic insights. We greatly appreciate the time you spent on this.

---

Female Founders: Michelle Klem On The Five Things You Need To Thrive and Succeed as a Woman Founder was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Female Founders: Lisa Bloskas of Willow Bend Title Company On The Five Things You Need To Thrive and Succeed as a Woman Founder

An Interview With Candice Georgiadis

Tenacity wins the day, your plans will evolve into something you never dreamed of, but keep pushing

As a part of our series about “Why We Need More Women Founders”, I had the pleasure of interviewing Lisa Bloskas.

Lisa Bloskas graduated from Texas Christian University with an MBA in Accounting and Taxation and is the founder of North Vine Realty, a brokerage with offices in Dallas, Houston, and Austin.

She holds over twenty years of entrepreneurial experience that encompasses real estate, manufacturing, and finance.

As a real estate agent, Lisa experienced the pressures and pain points that realtors go through to get their transactions to the closing table and chose to open Willow Bend Title Company™. A title company that mirrored the processes and qualities that helped her as an agent: over-communication, exceptional service and a client-focused attitude.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dig in, our readers would like to get to know you a bit more. Can you tell us a bit about your “backstory”? What led you to this particular career path?

I have always come from an entrepreneurial family, my father and mother both co-owned a wood manufacturing company founded in 1963 that sold in the early 2000s. I joined the company in the mid 1980s and steered it to the point of selling, part of which was selling the 150,000 square foot factory with acreage to boot. That’s where I got my first taste of the real estate industry and I was hooked! I got my real estate license a few years later in 2010. After brokering residential transactions, I learned that Title Companies are a very important part of the transaction, and from my manufacturing background, I saw how I could create a more efficient and client focused process that would add value to every party involved in a real estate transaction. Thus Willow Bend Title was born, and I’ve never been happier to show up to work with the goal of helping our clients achieve their piece of the American Dream.

Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began leading your company?

The most interesting story that happened to me since I began leading my company is the time we closed a multi-million dollar property the day before Christmas Eve. There were several heirs to the property, and half of it was selling as a residential property and the other half as a commercial property, so coordinating all of the necessary signers together to sign the closing documents was a bit like herding cats, especially so close to Christmas Eve. We ended up getting all the documents back around 9PM that night, and myself and my wonderful team stayed until 10PM to input the docs and send them to the necessary lenders as they had to have them officially back in their inboxes before Christmas Eve for compliance purposes. It was wonderful to see how the team rallied together and stayed well after normal business hours to serve our clients.

Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

Part of the process of closing a real estate transaction is getting something called a tax certificate from the tax authorities to find out how much taxes are owed on a property (since property taxes are paid one year in arrears), the seller pays their portion of the taxes from the day they sell the property and the buyer pays from the day they buy the property. There are services out there that will get the tax data for you, but when we first started we were so green we didn’t know about these companies. Our first closing ever was a $3 Million farm in south Texas with 8 owners, very complicated. We needed to know how much the taxes were, so I went to the county clerk to have them pull the tax statement, however it’s not usually done that way and the clerk was confused, but in my naivety I insisted. Well it’s a good thing I did it that way, because come to find out the county had messed up the parcel numbers and the family never realized it, they had been paying the wrong taxes for years! We had to wade through that mess before we could sell, but if it weren’t for us doing it the wrong way they never would have realized that the parcels were incorrect since tax certificates just indicate a dollar amount for a property and nothing else. Lesson learned, sometimes mistakes have silver linings!

None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?

The old adage ‘there is no I in team’ is one hundred percent true, even if it is a tad cliche. We would not be this far if it weren’t for my whole team around me, each one of us compliments each other’s strengths and cover each other’s weaknesses. After years of doing business (and life in general) I’ve come to realize that nobody is really self-made, you have to have a great team around you if you’re going to achieve any real level of success.

Ok, thank you for that. Let’s now jump to the primary focus of our interview. According to this report, only about 20 percent of funded companies have women founders. This reflects great historical progress, but it also shows that more work still has to be done to empower women to create companies. In your opinion and experience what is currently holding back women from founding companies?

Personally, and this may not apply to everyone, but I believe the main thing holding women back from founding companies is generally life itself. If women have husbands or families, they are often expected to ‘take care of the home’. However, when those same women join the workforce, they are still expected to maintain the same level of work at home that they had before getting a job. Add kids on top of that and it gets more and more complicated. Yes some boyfriends/husbands pitch in for the ‘domestic duties’ but in reality it mostly falls to the woman, especially if they have kids. So really we as women have two full time jobs, being a wife/mom and a breadwinner. It gets really tough when you’re burning from both ends, and I think a majority of women who want to start a business don’t have the bandwidth to dedicate the time and effort to it while also being a full time partner/mom.

Can you help articulate a few things that can be done as individuals, as a society, or by the government, to help overcome those obstacles?

I believe if most men in relationships or with families really pitched in 50/50 it would help free up space (both mentally and physically) for women to pursue starting a business. We know how on paper relationships and raising kids can appear as 50/50, but when you get to the granular aspects of it a majority of the work falls to the woman. Especially with kids, school lunches, homework, picking up or dropping off the kids at school, outfits, holidays, cooking dinner, doctor visits etc usually falls to the female in the relationship — not always but in my experience it’s a super majority. Women usually don’t have time to pursue other ventures, but if the men in our lives stepped up and really did 50% of the work, I’ll bet we’d see a bunch more women pursue founding companies.

This might be intuitive to you as a woman founder but I think it will be helpful to spell this out. Can you share a few reasons why more women should become founders?

Like my comments above, most of the granular aspects of family life falls to the woman, so we are mentally adept at keeping several balls in the air at once, and doing it well. Women led businesses in my experience transfer that adeptness of granularity to the business. Not to say that male led companies don’t, I just see it played out in female led businesses, most obviously mine! I find that the same mental skills I used as a mother I transferred to my business, and those skills have served me and my company really well.

What are the “myths” that you would like to dispel about being a founder? Can you explain what you mean?

One of the myths I’ve encountered that I would like to dispel regarding being a founder is the lack of knowledge you think you have before starting out, and that that is a huge burden you have to overcome. If you had told me in the 2000s at my parent’s manufacturing company that I’d be running a Title Company, I’d have called you crazy as I had no idea what a Title Company was. These days you can Google anything, so lack of knowledge should not be a major factor holding you back. You will make mistakes and there will be bumps in the road, but step out there anyway! I always tell my team, “the only way to do it is to do it”.

Is everyone cut out to be a founder? In your opinion, which specific traits increase the likelihood that a person will be a successful founder and what type of person should perhaps seek a “regular job” as an employee? Can you explain what you mean?

I think everyone has potential to be a founder, however there are certain personality types out there that will actually step out there on a wing and a prayer and start a company. Those people are the ones who should be a founder. It takes great risk to start something, especially if you have to put money toward it. However if you have the guts to do it, you should do it. If you want or need the steadiness of a regular paycheck and can’t imagine giving that up for a bit, then you should definitely seek a “regular job”. There’s nothing wrong at all with a “regular job”, I had one working for Bank of America right out of college so I understand the reliance on a paycheck to survive, but if you can step out there with a dream, you should do it!

Ok super. Here is the main question of our interview. What are your “5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Started” and why? (Please share a story or example for each.)

A few examples that pop to mind are:

1. Surround yourself with people who are smarter than you and there is no limit to where you can end up.
2. Success is relationships, network network network!
3. Always put your client’s hat on — always view everything from their side of things and you will have them for life
4. Success is a journey not the destination
5. Tenacity wins the day, your plans will evolve into something you never dreamed of, but keep pushing

How have you used your success to make the world a better place?

I love dogs, absolutely love them. There was an SPCA close to our office that hosted adopt-a thons or shelter clean up days, however sadly during the pandemic they had to shut their doors. But any chance I get to help shelters or pounds I jump at the chance. We also do a Christmas tree gift drive for underprivileged kids during Christmas at our office. We each get a gift for a child who would’ve not gotten one but for our tree. I have a special place in my heart to help those who cannot help themselves.

You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good for the greatest number of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger.

I would honestly want to inspire a mentorship movement for girls and women in business. There are so many opportunities in the business world that I missed in the past because I didn’t even know those opportunities existed. I really do aim to help show those younger than me, especially girls, an avenue in business that I didn’t even know existed when I first started in business all those years ago. If every woman in the business world were to take a girl in high school and college under her wing and mentor her, and just simply show her the possibilities that are out there for her or even just mentor her in general, I think it could change not only the business world, but the whole world. Thats what I’ve done with so many of my team. I adhere to the principle of helping lift up those behind me as I climb the ladder of success.

We are very blessed that some very prominent names in Business, VC funding, Sports, and Entertainment read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the US with whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she might just see this if we tag them.

I would love the opportunity to have lunch with Barbara Corcoran. To have a woman ascend the real estate world, in New York City of all places, in the era she did it is simply awe inspiring. I know the uphill climb she had to do while others got to coast and I am continuously impressed with her work ethic and continued success.

Thank you for these fantastic insights. We greatly appreciate the time you spent on this.

Thank you for your time!

---

Female Founders: Lisa Bloskas of Willow Bend Title Company On The Five Things You Need To Thrive… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.